Report shows rising air pollution levels in hill stations of Uttarakhand
To avoid the ill-effects of increased pollution levels and scorching heat in Delhi-NCR and other cities of the country, people turn to hill stations. But, now, the level of pollution is increasing in hill tourist destinations as well.
Nainital most polluted hill station
It is a matter of concern that among the hill tourist destinations of Uttarakhand, the air of Nainital has become the most polluted. The report of the Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board is giving dangerous signals. In the last one year, the level of PM 10 has increased by more than 15 percent there.
The amount of pollution in the air of Gopeshwar in Chamoli district has been found to be the lowest. After Nainital, among the hill cities, the air quality of Bageshwar has been surprisingly recorded as the worst, while tourism activities there are limited.
One reason for this could be the mining business there. In the plains, air pollution is highest in Dehradun and lowest in Kashipur. The report of the Pollution Control Board is showing that air pollution is increasing rapidly year after year in all the hill cities.
Air pollution has become the highest in Nainital, a major tourist center, due to heavy pressure of vehicles and crowd of tourists. The level of PM 10 responsible for pollution in Nainital’s air has been found to be 76.77 micrograms per cube. This is the highest in the hilly areas of the state.
While in 2023, the amount of PM 10 in Nainital was 64.08. In this way, the level of harmful PM 10 in Nainital has increased by 12.69 micrograms per cube in a year. This is more than 15 percent compared to last year. In the hilly areas of the state, the level of PM 10 in the air of Gopeshwar has been recorded at only 40.94, which is the lowest in the state.
Dehradun most polluted city in the state
Talking about the plains, the air of Dehradun is the most polluted. In the sample taken near ISBT in Dehradun, the highest PM 10 in the air was found to be 223.91. Here the amount of harmful gas sulphur dioxide in the air was found to be 9.02 and nitrogen 20.3, which is much higher than normal.
Among other urban areas, Kashipur in Udham Singh Nagar district has the lowest level of air pollution. Here the PM 10 level in the air was recorded to be 115.19 and sulphur dioxide 9.93 and nitrogen 16.7.
